


Butterly Effect

by sirsoundwaveIV



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon | Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon Versions
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:40:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28152498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirsoundwaveIV/pseuds/sirsoundwaveIV





	1. Chapter 1

Wingulls hung in the air, enjoying the gentle Slateport breeze and waiting for the crowd below to disperse. A throng of sightseers, with some trainers mixed in, were heading to Alola on a spectacular large white cruise ship in Slateport’s harbor.

Burris adjusted his black t-shirt, a tight fit around his slender body a near match for his gym shorts, as he saw a few other obvious trainers wearing nicer clothes. He could afford them, of course, but comfort usually took precedence over style. The light breeze toyed with his brown curly hair.

“Are you ready, sweetheart?” Liliana asked. Burris still never quite knew how his mom kept the buns in her hair from her youth, and even had the twintails too. A few trainers stopped to ask her for autographs on the way in; no matter how often it happened, Burris always seemed to be surprised to remember her mom was a champion back in her and dad’s Unova days.

Burris nodded. “I think so?”

“Well, that’s natural,” Eli said. His wild blue hair from his youth had been trimmed down to a receding black hairline in his older age, his darker skin a near one to one with Burris’. He patted his son on the shoulder. “Alola’s a strange new place, but you’ll have Robby and whatever other new friends you make along the way too.”

The Oshawott poked his head out from behind Burris’ legs, adjusted his neon green bandanna around his neck, and posed proudly. Liliana smiled and gave the Oshawott much deserved pats on his damp thick fur on top of his head.

“Just like his father did for me back in the day in Unova,” she said, smiling. The cruise ship horn sounded, and the group shared a hug.

-

Burris felt homesick as soon as he tossed his bags down on the floor of his room; a small thing, no larger than a typical dorm room, but the bed seemed alright enough at least.

He plopped down on it and immediately changed his mind, older springs creaking in protest. Robby hopped on a small bedside table, tail wagging as he saw the ocean blue stretch out endlessly before him.

“At least you’re enjoying this,” Burris griped, sighing into his rough hands from years of climbing around Littleroot. Sienna had decided to take her gap year going for the crown in Hoenn- as she was destined to do, being the chosen one of the twins- but Burris, as usual, didn’t really know what to do.

His mom got a call from someone named Kukui, a professor from Alola; apparently looking for more talent to travel around Alola to help them build their own Pokemon League. It sounded fun, right up to the point the cruise ship left port and it hit him he’d be thousands of miles away from home for months.

Burris felt Robby nudge him as he started blankly at the ceiling, and then another nudge.

“Alright, alright, you little shit, I’ll get you your damn food,” Burris muttered. Robby’s tail happily slapped against the floor. “How are you going to survive being out in the wilderness forever?”

Robby tilted his head.

“You’ll have to eat nothing but berries and twigs.”

Robby pouted, crossing his arms.

Burris didn’t stay in the buffet room for long; too crowded, too much noise, too many strangers, not his speed. Robby attempted to get the attention of a few girls, but Burris threatened his supper if he didn’t quit threatening him with socializing.

Robby dropped it, but he still grumbled to the point he started munching on his fish and berries. Burris thumbed through his phone, a well-used phone with an emerald-colored casing, Well wishes from his grandparents and his other relatives, his mom *already* asking him how things were going, his dad asking him if his mom texted him about how things were going, his sister sending him pictures of her first few Pokemon came and went as he replied.

He sighed as he placed it on his chest. His thoughts drifted to Hoenn once again before it lit up and buzzed again.

Burris squinted at it in the dark. Professor Kukui. He shrugged, and Kukui’s grinning mug appeared on his screen with a tap of a button.

“Alola, Burris!” Kukui placed his hands on his hips, a small Rockruff peeking over his shoulders to check what’s what. “Glad to see you got on the boat safely!”

“Yeah, thanks Kukui,” Burris said. They had met virtually, once; Mom had gotten a surprise call from the professor seeking potential trainers, and Burris remembered them talking about the history of Pokemon Leagues and champions for nearly an hour before Kukui got to talking about the twins traveling to Alola.

Sienna declined- it was her destiny to be Hoenn’s champion, after all- but Burris, for reasons he still wasn’t sure of, accepted.

“So!” Kukui clapped. “Quick rundown; you’ll be pulling into Hau’oli City sometime tomorrow morning, and I’ll be there to pick you up, no worries!”

Mom would probably kill him for leaving him alone in a strange city, so Burris just nodded.

“And then later you’ll meet your starter and tomorrow, your travel buddy for the Island Challenge!”

“Challenge?”

“Oh, we don’t have a League of our own, yet,” Kukui said, crossing his arms and grinning. “I know how tough you trainers can be from other regions and when I heard Liliana had twins of age I got hit with a Spark of inspiration!”

Oh good, puns.

“Wait, you already knew my mom?”

Kukui grinned. “We met in Kanto when I was journeying and they were hosting a Champion’s Cup themselves…” He sighed wistfully. “Good times.”

“Did you tell Dad?” Burris quipped.

Kukui laughed, and showed Burris a gold ring on his finger. “I think my wife would Block me from that first.”

“Fair enough.”

Burris felt his bed bounce as Robby hopped down from the desk, and Kukui soon saw nothing but Robby’s orb of a head on screen.

“Robby!”

“You know him?”

“Your mom mentioned him, and I’ve got a Sticky Hold for names,” Kukui replied. “We’ll have to hold off on the pats until we meet, but I’ve got a friend here waiting for you!”

A small Litten, pretending to be disinterested, poked his head out from underneath the screen.

“Oh, they’re cute.” Robby crossed his arms; the Litten licked his paw.

“Yeah! Littens are a bit of a fussy lot, but they’re good eggs,” Kukui said. He waved to the camera. “We’ll see you tomorrow! Just look for me outside of my old Jeep, alright?”

-

Burris yawned and stretched in the back seat of Kukui’s jeep, the gray worn fabric on the seats covered by duct tape in parts. Robby took the front seat, and Kukui was busy giving the Oshawott a verbal tour of the city.

Burris half listened, his head leaned back on the seat as he observed the crowd outside of a small strip mall. The bouncing of the jeep on the road almost lulled him to sleep, a far cry from the rocking of the ship. Kukui mentioned something about this being one of the biggest cities in Alola, and Burris wondered if it was that much bigger than even ol’ Petalburg was.

Still Robby enjoyed it, and Kukui peaked in the mirror. “Still with us, Burris?”

“Y-yeah, sorry,” Burris said. He yawned again. “Didn’t sleep well on the ship.”

“No worries! You’ve got a big adventure ahead of you, hard to Rest when you’re excited!”

“Yeah,” Burris said. Kukui’s enthusiasm was infectious enough to stave off homesickness at the least, but Burris was still running on approximately no good sleep. “What’s on the docket for today?”

“After this? Meet your Litten, my assistant, supper… and a good night of sleep, because we’ve got the opening ceremony for the Island Challenge tomorrow!”

The smoothish city roads quickly turned to gravel as Hau’oli turned into the almost untouched Melemele outskirts. A few houses sat here and there along the road, but they were few and fair between in the miles of winding road. Burris caught a sign that directed them towards a place called Iki Town, a bent and rusted green metal thing.that was probably older than he was.

The jeep rolled into the highway of a house, a plain white thing not unlike the other houses, but with obvious holes in the roof patched up with different colored shingles. The Alolan day turned into Alolan sunset, a rich combination of reds and oranges following the sun as it dipped below the ocean horizon.

Littleroot didn’t quite have the same tier of sunset.

Kukui’s assistant waited outside of his house, the blonde fidgeting with her frilly white dress and hat as the group stepped up to the house. She was the type of girl Burris swore up and down he crushed on in shows as a kid, before it hit him that he mostly just wanted to be the one kissed by the boy.

“Burris, this is Lillie,” Kukui said. Burris and Lillie exchanged timid smiles and hellos in greeting, and Burris thanked Arceus she at least was anti-social too. Robby had no such shame, and immediately badgered her for headpats.

“Oh, if you insist…” Lillie lifted up the wotter into her arms as the group entered the house, a single floor thing with a basement and a loft. Luvdisc swam around in a tank between the living room and kitchen, while a Snubbull and Rockruff played with each other near the couch.

A familiar Litten rose his head up and swished his tail around once or twice before hiding his excitement. Burris stepped up to the Litten, yellow eyes observing him as he went down to be on level with the cat.

“Hi,” Burris said, moving a hand slowly towards the Litten. “Can I pet you?” No response, but Burris’ hand inched closer, and closer, and the Litten didn’t seem to mind. Was always hard to tell with cats, though.

Finally, the Litten determined it was acceptable to let Burris pat him, and even let out a quick “mrrr” as Burris ran his hand through his warm soft fur.

Burris took a second glance at the pattern on Litten’s forehead. Rather than the usual pattern, it was more of a smudge-y mess.

“How about Smudge?”

Smudge swished his tail back and forth once or twice, and never left Burris’ side. Dinner was simple chicken and pasta, slightly burnt and clearly out of boxes and cans. Fine, still, but Burris wondered how Kukui and Lillie even lived like this.

Eventually the lights went out and Burris looked up at a creaky ceiling fan from his couch, holes from a Pikipek in it. Smudge laid curled up on one side, a heat source for a cooler Alolan night, while Robby laid on the other. He could hear Lillie hushing something upstairs in the loft and shrugged; one of Kukui’s pets probably got up there to harass her.

Robby probably gave them the idea Lillie was a pushover, the little shit.

Burris felt his eyes droop as he absentmindedly patted both of them. Even the slightly uncomfortable mishmash of sheets and blankets, his legs crunched by the other arm of the patched up couch, didn’t overcome his exhaustion.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, he thought as he drifted to sleep.

-

Iki Town, much like the sign on the highway, had seen better days. The people milling around the town square, a wooden thing made up to be something of a battlefield with four torches on the corners, didn’t seem to notice.

Littleroot seemed positively modern by comparison. Burris hung off to the side as he watched the people set up chairs and tables for the night ahead; Kukui had convinced the head of the island- Hala, Burris thought?- that he wanted some festivities.

The real festivities to kick off the Island Challenge were… sometime after summer break started; apparently middle schoolers and such participated in the challenge too. The one for younger kids was more like summer camps, not dissimilar to ones Burris remembered attending growing up.

Younger Burris would’ve absolutely not been down for having to carry his own food and gear for ten days at a time, though.

“Burris?” Kukui said, walking up with his hands in his pockets. “Why don’t you come meet some of the locals real quick?”

Burris’ gaze bounced from stranger to stranger to an older man he was pretty sure was Hala to other strangers, none of which he liked the thought of approaching cold turkey unless he absolutely had to.

“Where’s Lillie?” Burris asked.

Kukui blinked and spun around. “Well shoot, I don’t know where she ran off to!”

Burris exhaled as Kukui looked towards the winding path just north of town, rotted wooden steps leading into the jungle nearby.

“Oh!” He snapped his fingers. “The temple, yeah that makes sense…”

“Temple?”

“It’s where Tapu Koko is, I know Lillie talked a whole bunch about checking it out at some point…” Kukui trailed off. “Mind snagging her for me? I gotta help Hala grab more tables so we don’t have a Trick Room on our hands.”

“Sure thing!” Burris said, and took off like a rocket. The sound of people and setting up faded into the distance, replaced by the gentle swaying of trees in the wind and chirping of Pikipek. Burris could hear the distant roar of a waterfall, turning into the sound of a rushing river as he got closer to the top of the stairs.

He could see the relatively tall buildings of Hau’oli, the entirety of rustic Iki Town, and even Kukui’s house from here.

Burris took in the sights and quiet before stepping further into Mahalo Trail, winding through the jungle and up slightly more. He appreciated the relatively cool air this high up on his bare arms and legs, before he heard Lillie, shouting something that sounded like “get back here!”

“One of Kukui’s, I guess,” Burris muttered. Half a football field later, the boy peaked around the jungle and into a small clearing, with something that could only be described as a small space fluffball moving across a rickety wooden bridge over a roaring river.

Lillie shook her head. Burris blinked.

Not one of Kukui’s, Burris thought as he saw Lillie’s duffel bag nearby.

Burris put two and two together and shrugged. Family secrets weren’t really a new thing to him.

“Lillie?”

The blonde jumped and spun around. “O-oh! Burris, um.” Fidgeting with her fingers for a moment, Burris noted the consternation on her face before she accepted defeat. “That is. Nebby.”

Nebby cried and waggled his little cotton candy arms off towards the bridge.

“Cute.” Didn’t seem like a normal pokemon, and Lillie clearly knew, but Burris wouldn’t want to be pressed on answers either. “Kukui was looking for you, by the way.”

Lillie shook her head and shut her eyes. “Really? I told him Nebby and I were going here…” She trailed off and gestured at the ancient temple nearby, a sizable building made up of stone bricks, painted over in part clearly far before anyone alive was born, and ancient cracked statues staring down the group from across the river. “It’s the Temple of Conflict, one of the Tapu’s temples.”

“Oh,” Burris said, nodding. Mom had mentioned those at some point; the island guardians. They were finicky creatures, according to stories Kukui had told her.

“Nebby’s shown a lot of interest in these places, and…” Lillie trailed off, shaking her head. “I feel responsible for him, I suppose. He’s not from this world, and-”

Screeching squawks broke the silence around them, and the two looked to the bridge just in time to see a pair of angry Spearow descend on Nebby, cowering in a ball as they circled above.

“Oh, son of a-” Burris said.

“He can’t protect himself, he-”

“I figured!” Burris replied, voice raised as he tossed out Smudge and Robby. “Robby, Water Gun! Just like those cans back home! Smudge, follow Robby’s lead!”

Burris heard Lillie asking him what he was planning as he took off in a run, Robby’s burst of water nailing a Spearow directly in the head, a fireball not unlike a hairball lazily following suit and causing a surprised screech.

Burris ducked as the two Spearow flew by, leaving one tormentor by Nebby, and he saw the holes in the bridge showing the river below.

Far, far below.

He inhaled and looked up, gently stepping over the rickety bridge plank by plank. His heart pounded as he bent down to scoop up the little puffball.

“There we are, that wasn’t-” Burris winced at another screech, a third Spearow diving with claws bared. “Shit.”

He almost didn’t notice Nebby glow at first, but he did notice the bright burst of energy soon after.

He noticed his stomach dropping, the roaring waters and rocks below as him and Nebby fell together, the rushing winds drowning out whatever they were saying up above..

And then suddenly it all stopped, something bright and glowing catching Burris in their arms, lifting them up with speed to the surface and dropping him and Nebby in front of a shocked Lillie and relieved pokemon.

Burris held a finger up to his rescuer, its shadow hanging over the cliffside, as his heart pounded. Taking heavy, steadying, breaths, Burris turned and looked up at the spiraling serpent towering over everyone below, emerald and red scales complimenting its yellow and black eyes staring down at them.

Burris’ heart picked up again.

Rayquaza eyed the stunned group for a few moments, seemingly smiled, and took off like a rocket, an emerald glint in the sky in mere moments.

“Burris?” Lillie questioned. “What-”

A ball of lightning crashed to the ground in front of Burris, knocking the boy to the ground, and in a second the yellow shell of Tapu Koko revealed itself. It opened in the same fluid motion as it dashed towards Burris, staring down with anger at the terrified trainer.

Burris and the Tapu didn’t break eye contact, as much as Burris’ mind told him to run. Tapu Koko turned to the sky as the emerald glint intensified once more, shining like a star in the late afternoon sky.

A threat, one that the Tapu acknowledged, and in a moment it too was nothing more than another light in a bright sky.

Burris’ breathing turned panicked as his mind finally had time to process everything. Robby instinctively nudged his trainer’s arm, and hummed in content as Burris hugged him, holding him in silence as his heart rate returned to normal.

“Burris…” Lillie bit her tongue before an “are you okay?” rolled out of it. “Was that… Rayquaza?”

“... Yeah,” Burris answered. “Yeah, it was.”

The cool breeze and sound of roaring water down below returned with the calm, the small group staring out over the now thoroughly destroyed bridge. Nebby wandered up towards Smudge, lying on the ground near Burris.

Smudge hissed and slashed at the startled puffball with a claw.

“Smudge!” Burris chastised.

Smudge licked his paw.

“... what do we do?” Lillie finally asked.

“Hm?”

“I mean…” Lillie sighed. “Someone likely noticed.”

Burris’ heart sunk. Shit. “Right.”

“And Tapu Koko seemed angry…”

“Yeah, I caught that.” Burris ran his hands over his face, ending with a long sigh. Fun.

“What do we do?” Lillie began to fidget.

“Nothing.” Burris said flatly, crossing his hands over the other.

“But-”

“We tell no one about this, ever.” Lillie gave Burris a confused, skeptical look. “Ever.”

Lillie shook her head.

“If you say so…”


	2. Chapter 2

Burris couldn’t help but feel like everyone was watching him back in Iki Town. The sun began to recede towards the horizon as the breeze turned cooler. 

By the time Lillie and Burris returned to the town proper, pokemon stowed away for safekeeping, the locals were busy talking among themselves about seeing Tapu Koko in the sky as they set up the last few tables and chairs around the wooden stage arena. A few noted the other strange light.

Burris exhaled a bit; no one saw Rayquaza but him and Lillie and a very angry Tapu, at the least. Silver linings, maybe.

“There you guys are!”

Kukui’s big grin greeted the two, his hands on his hips with Hau- about Burris’ age and build, dark skin complimenting his darker hair tied up in a small spiked thing- and Hala- clearly Hau’s grandpa, his sandals and looser yellow coat contrasting with his authoritative stance- standing behind him.

“Alola!” Hau said, waving. “You’re from Hoenn, right?” Hau’s wide grin was practically a match for Kukui’s.

“Uh, yeah,” Burris replied, waving. 

“Yeah! He’s one of those Junipers, you never know what they’ll get up to.” 

Burris didn’t find Kukui’s joke very funny

“Oh, the Juniper Foundation Junipers?” Hala asked, rubbing his chin. Burris nodded, and Hala smiled. “Bianca does a lot of great work around the islands here.”

“She’s mentioned it,” Burris said, grinning a little. Anything to dodge the emerald elephant lurking in the room.

“Most of us don’t have much,” Hala said, crossing his arms and smiling. “She helps a lot with our social programs for our children and such, but…” The old kahuna chuckled. “I suppose you’ve heard enough about that, hmmm?”

“I mean sure, a bit,” Burris replied with a shrug.

Hala turned towards the sun setting, dousing the sky in a brillant array of purples and oranges, and nodded.

“Besides, it’s almost time for the opening festivities.”

Hau took approximately point five seconds after Hala walked off to open his barrage. 

“What’s it like, anyway?”

“Hm?”

“Being a Juniper, I mean,” Hau questioned, smiling. “I’m sure they have lots of stories to tell!”

“Yeah,” Burris said with a shrug. Usually when they were drinking “Honestly I don’t think it’s that different from growing up in a normal family.”

“Really?” Hau asked.

“Well, yeah.”

Hau tilted his head. “C’mon! It can’t be all that normal!”

“People just know my last name.” Burris rolled his eyes, looking away from Hau. “It’s really not that different.”

Hau planted his hands on his hips. “You’re joking! C’mon, tell me something.”

Burris sighed. “Fine, if you insist.” He paused, looked Hau dead in the eyes, and spoke up again. “My mom’s psychic.”

“Hah! Parents sure do have that third eye in the back of their head.”

Burris kept his gaze without hardly a blank, causing the walk part of the walk and talk to slow to nothing.

“Wait,” Hau said, taking a step back in shock. “You’re serious?”

“Yup,” Burris said, with a chuckle.

“Okay, so what was that like?” Hau asked, arms crossed.

“What?” 

“What do you mean, what?” Hau said with a laugh. “You can’t just leave something like that hanging!”

“I mean… I didn’t try underage drinking.”

“Hah! Fair enough,” Hau said, grinning. He clasped his hands behind his shoulders, an expectant look on his face.

“My sister and I just sorta grew up with it,” Burris explained. “We knew if she was in our heads, didn’t have to worry about her rummaging around freely.”

“How?”

Burris shrugged. “It was just a warm fuzzy feeling, really. Kinda like a hug.”

“Aw, that’s adorable,” Hau said. “Now, that said…”

-

Lillie lost track of the number of questions Hau peppered Burris with as day slipped into night. About his family, about how cool it was he had a pokemon from Unova here, and all sorts of other odds and ends.

She could sense Burris’ exhaustion at the constant communication, and yet still caught an occasional smile here and there, even as the long day turned into night and the torches around the town square were lit.

Lillie sat down beside Kukui, on the edge of a half circle of metal chairs, and immediately attempted to adjust for comfort. 

This failed, of course.

She could hear Nebby playing with wrappers in the bottom of the duffle bag, sitting neatly beneath the chair, and recalled the time that she had attempted to teach Nebby about how to play with usual plush toys.

This also failed, of course.

Hala announced the two fighters, said a quick word about honoring Tapu Koko, and Lillie turned to look at Burris. He sometimes did a good job of keeping a stone cold face. She caught wind of a few interested murmurs; some asking if he was Bianca’s grandson, others wondering why a Juniper would be taking on their island challenge in the proverbial middle of nowhere.

She caught Kukui smiling as flashes from Hau and Burris’ Poke Balls lit up the night. A rare smile from Kukui; not a goofy one, but a satisfied one.

The opening moves from Hau- his Pichu, seemingly barely able to keep its own feet- and Burris- Robby, the Oshawott clearly only having experience with cans in the garage- reminded Lillie how sloppy trainer battles could be. She remembered the pre-recorded battles that Wicke would show her and Gladion. 

Her favorites involved Diantha, fighting a young trainer from Laverre named Kali with a Mega Mawile ace that eventually overwhelmed Diantha’s Mega Gardevoir, and Iris.

She focused on Iris’ loss to Liliana- around Lillie’s age at the challenge, complete with hair buns Lillie could never quite fathom- as Robby deflected a Pichu Thundershock. Sloppy, sure, but even in the early moments Burris reminded Lillie of Liliana; aggressive, but using the pokemon’s natural defensive capabilities to offset raw unchecked power that trainers like Iris preferred.

The crowd clapped as Hau’s Pichu fell to Robby’s shell, bouncing backwards into Hau’s arms. He smiled, patted the sad electric mouse on the head, and withdrew it.

Lillie smiled as Robby and Burris exchanged a low five, and soon after the final combatants took the stage; Burris’ Litten, and Hau’s Rowlet. She leaned in a little bit and observed closer.

“Enjoying yourself, Lillie?” Kukui said, breaking her concentration.

“O-oh, yes,” Lillie said. She didn’t know why she was so awkward about it; Arceus knows how many questions she had asked Kukui about his battling days. After the introvert tradition of not saying more than three words to him in her first two weeks living with him, of course.

Kukui’s grin widened, Lillie caught that glint in his eye as he watched the Rowlet and Litten dance around each other. It didn’t take much for her to decode Kukui’s raw optimism.

“It’s not quite like seeing professionals from other regions, but it’s still a treat, yeah!” 

“It is enjoyable,” Lillie said. She remembered how much Kukui had talked about Burris, how he had wrangled in a Juniper to help jumpstart Alola’s Pokemon League. Alola wasn’t bereft of talented trainers, to be sure, but Kukui had spent months trying to get just one big name to help elevate Alola to the world’s stage.

He even put in calls with Red to try and get his daughter, impressively enough.

“It sure has you in a Bind.” Kukui cracked a smile in tune with Lillie’s rolling eyes. “Are you sure you don’t want to go, too?”

Lillie felt those nerves again, the irrational feeling that she wouldn’t be perfect or good at it, so why try? It’d be easier to stay back and let others take care of it. So many disappointed remarks over the years had drilled that into her mind, freezing her in place even after escaping from Aether.

And yet, there were Hau and Burris in all of their imperfections and inexperience, having fun. Burris certainly didn’t match her idols’ skills, and Lillie had seen enough of Hala to know the same for Hau.

But Kukui saw the world in the two boys, and Lillie felt that same energy directed at her.

“I…” Lillie trailed off, anchored in place. But she remembered from earlier in the day, when Burris nearly took the fall for her and Nebby, unwrapped his own mystery.

It felt wrong to leave him alone to carry all of that burden; the other Tapus would probably be unhappy, too.

“It’s not an easy choice, yeah?” Kukui’s tone grew softer, his gaze turning back to the stage where Smudge had landed a burning hairball on the Rowlet, causing the poor owl to screech and wipe at it with his wingsf. Hau laughed and retrieved his owl. 

Hala walked over to Burris and raised the boy’s fist, congratulating him on winning and giving thanks to Tapu Koko.

Burris’ gaze met Lillie’s, the two equally awkward. Burris walked off with Hala and Hau, the group chatting about something or another and laughing as the other townsfolk grabbed the chairs.

“No,” Lillie said, feeling Kukui’s eyes on her. She bit her tongue, years of circumstance and belittling trying to prevent her next words from coming out. 

She couldn’t help but drift back to Burris, though; they weren’t supposed to tell anyone, but if anyone…

“I… Kukui?” Lillie fidgeted. “I need to tell you something else, first.”

-

Burris felt cramped as he entered Hala’s house, not much more than a living room, a kitchen, and a small staircase leading to a bedroom in the attic. lined the kitchen counter, filling the air with a mess of smells that could only be described as heavenly. 

“That sure was something with you and Robby,” Hau said for what felt like the third time. Still, Burris smiled, even as he helped Hau and Hala carry metal chairs around a folding table as old as he was.

“Yeah, we’ve gone through a lot together,” Burris said, interrupted by the screeching of unfolding chairs. 

“How’d you get an Unovan pokemon all the way in Hoenn, anyway?” Hau asked. “Aren’t Oshawotts supposed to be rare?”

“He’s my mom’s Samurrot’s kid, he was…” Burris trailed off, suddenly tentative and tight lipped. Hau blinked at him, prompting a response. “A birthday gift.”

“Cool!” 

“Indeed,” Hala said, a warm smile under his moustache. Burris noted upon second glance that his outfit resembled Tapu Koko’s look. “It’s not every day we get the son of a Champion here in Alola.”

Burris chuckled and blushed slightly. “It’s nice to be here, really.” Except for the Tapus, anyway. 

“It’s understandable to be awkward about it, too,” Hala said with a nod. “I don’t mean to put all of those expectations on you,” he continued, walking towards the kitchen. 

“I mean,” Burris said, shrugging. “My parents never pressured us like that.” Sienna put the world on her own shoulders; she wasn’t destiny’s child because mom or dad told her so, she was because she wanted to be.

Burris didn’t know what he wanted a lot of the time, and he knew that was okay too.

“That’s good,” Hala said earnestly, slipping behind the counter. 

Burris caught a glimpse of Hau’s slight frown, before the boy bounced back to his usual smiling self. “Hey, where’s Kukui and Lillie? I’m starving.”

Burris felt hunger gnaw at his stomach, to the point he missed what sounded like moving glass in the kitchen. “Good question, I think I saw them talking after our fight?”

“Huh, wonder about what…” Hau said, trailing off. “Sure was a good fight, right Tutu?” A knowing smirk crossed his face at a muffled “mhmm” from the kitchen.

Burris blinked.

“Tutu, are you eating spam musubi early again?”

Hala emerged from behind a wall between the kitchen doorway and windowed counter space, overlooking the cramped living room/dining area hybrid.

“No,” he replied, rubbing a bit of white rice off of his cheeks.

“You liar!” Hau said, closing his eyes and laughing before bouncing out of his chair to the kitchen.. “Fair’s fair! If you get to have musubi early, I get to have my early malsada!”

The two laughed behind the counter, Hau raising the fried sweet treat to his mouth. The pang of homesickness edged out the feeling of hunger in Burris’ stomach.

He looked down at his phone; a few texts from mom since the fight, one from his sister with a team photo- how on earth did she find a Surskit- dad asking him what he wanted in his first care package…

Burris tapped away as Hau and Hala bantered back and forth, mind bouncing around a million dinnertime memories with family.

The front door creaked in protest against Kukui’s energy as he swung it open. His grin, wide as ever, contrasted with Lillie’s awkward small smile.

“Alola! Do I smell poke?”

The group quickly filled their plates, patterns resembling the four tapus connected by the Alolan ocean on the rim of the tan ceramic. Burris didn’t shy away either, though he found himself hesitating on the first bite of spam musubi, a piece of fried spam wrapped in dried seaweed on top of white rice.

He didn’t hesitate on the other bites, though, letting Kukui and Hala and Hau talk as him and Lillie shared silent glances here and there.

Neither had the energy to do much more than eating.

“Woo! I’m stuffed!” Kukui said, setting his fourth plate down. “Great as always, Hala!”

Hala nodded, grinning and smiling. “Sometimes I don’t think you’d tell me if you didn’t like my cooking, Kukui.” He rubbed his hands with a cloth napkin and started to collect plates.

“I’d like to stay and help with the dishes, but Lillie and I gotta Aqua Jet! Take care of a quick thing before the night’s out.”

“Of course,” Hala said, his expression turning neutral as he turned towards Hau. “Why don’t you go with them, Hau?” Burris and I can do the dishes.”

The unmistakable gaze of a parent that knew there was no “no” coming fell on Burris.

“Yeah, sure,” Burris said. “I’ll catch up with you guys.”

Hau flashed a confused look between the two as the cool breeze of the Alolan night entered as Kukui and Lillie left. 

“Sure thing…” Hau said.

-

Robby kicked his little legs back and forth, sitting on the counter and staring at the occasional bubble floating out of the sink.

Burris dunked his first plate into the hot suds, feeling the abrasiveness of the cheap dish soap as he ran a sponge over it.

“Why do you guys like spam so much?” Burris asked.

Hala smiled as Burris passed him a plate, grabbing the metal dish sprayer. “Back before most meat was artificial, there was a war where it wasn’t safe to fish for Magikarp offshore.” Hala put the plate down on a plastic drying rack. “We, much like the Kantoese servicemen stationed here, had to rely on spam for our protein.”

Burris blinked as he went through the motions with another plate. “Well, when you put it like that…”

“It was an interesting time, to be sure,” Hala said. Accepting the second plate, Burris noticed a contemplative look in his eyes as the Kahuna focused. “Burris, if you don’t mind me asking… what happened up on Mahalo Trail?”

“Mahalo?”

“With you and Lillie.”

Burris couldn’t help but be impressed; Hala juggled his demand for an answer not only with his usual soft but authoritative energy, he even almost hid the fact he probably already knew bits and pieces of it pretty well.

Burris focused on the third plate, scrubbing it with more aggression than the others. “... Okay.” He nodded, passing a plate without looking. Robby’s ears twitched. 

“The long and short of it is the bridge gave out, and… Rayquaza saved me.”

“And Tapu Koko got angry about it.”

“Yeah.” Burris blinked before his eyes widened at Hala. “Wait, how do you know that?” 

“Each of us Kahunas have a connection with the Tapus that go just a bit deeper than being chosen by them,” Hala explained, then shook his head. “It’s hard to exactly describe all of the details, but we have a fairly decent idea of when they’re angry or pleased.”

“Oh, so Tapu Koko was actually happy with my fight with Hau?”

Hala chuckled. “No, I’m afraid they won’t be pleased with you for dragging another legend onto their turf.”

“Great. I guess they’re the type to not accept ‘I don’t know’ as an excuse, too.” Burris groaned, slamming the last plate under the water with enough force to splash all three of them. “Err… sorry.” 

Hala wiped his brow with a towel, while Robby’s attempts to turn the splashed suds into a small ball ended with nothing more than disappointment. 

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Hala said, setting a hand on Burris’ shoulder. “It’s a confusing and stressful situation.” He paused to rinse off another plate with a contemplative look. “But Alola might have answers too.”

Burris perked up, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Malie City has a library filled with ancient books and scripts from our past,” Hala said. “I know Lillie was interested too, and while I can’t promise it’ll have precisely what you’re looking for… Alola has quite the rich history.”

“So you’re telling me there’s a chance,” Burris noted bitterly, passing the last plate to Hala.

“The worst case is you’ll make memories and experiences with Hau and Lillie along the way,” Hala said with a gentle smile. “It’s not always about an end goal or point.”

Burris dried off his hands, annoyed for the briefest of moments before Robby hopped over the sink in a sink bound. 

He nudged up Burris’ hand with his forehead. “Alright, alright,” Burris said. His shoulders relaxed as he pat the Oshawott on the hand. “Yeah, I did come out here without a real goal in mind… just. That.” Burris shrugged and looked at Hala. “So. Yeah, thanks.”

Hala nodded. “Of course.” Burris caught the briefest glimpse of some uncertainty- regret, maybe?- in the Kahuna’s eyes. “I just wish it was as easy to tell that to Hau-”

The door slamming open cut the conversation open, revealing a smiling Hau, a Kukui with a grin so wide Burris didn’t think it was physically possible…

… and Lillie, smiling and slightly embarrassed, as she held a Popplio in her arms at the center of attention.

“Alola! It looks like you and Hau will have a Triple Axel of a squad after all, yeah!”

-

A dim building, a square with a blue roof iconic to Alola’s police stations, sat out in the downpour not far from a series of tall walls surrounding Po Town.

Nanu drifted in and out of consciousness most nights. A solid night of sleep wasn’t really for him, especially with the Alolan Meowth climbing all over the place.

The futon didn’t help matters but eh. Full fledged bed was a bit much for this dump. Would smell like cat in a week tops.

His phone rumbled to life on his end table slash night stand. Nanu cursed, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. 

“Hala?” Nanu muttered at his cracked phone screen, bits of black rubber peeling off the case itself. 

Nanu stepped outside, cigarette hanging out of his mouth and the occasional drip of water pelting him on the elbow

“Talk to me,” Nanu said. He cradled the phone between his cheek and shoulder, clicking his lighter angrily at a stubborn smoke.

“Do you remember how Bunnelby multiply?” Hala replied.

Nanu looked up at the overhang, the gentle rain pelting at the aluminum turning heavier. Didn’t bother the smoke any. Tasted better with the fresh air.

“It’s two am Hala, neither you or I have time for riddles,” Nanu replied.

“... So Burris claimed he was rescued by Rayquaza earlier today,” Hala said.

Nanu chewed it over. “Considering it’s not plastered all over my socials…”

“Tapu Koko informed me,” Hala explained. “I suspect most anyone else saw was an emerald light.”

Nanu played with the cigarette between his fingers and exhaled.

“Fuck,” he snarled. “Goddamn Junipers.”

“Mmm,” Hala said. Nanu didn’t miss the “stop swearing” underlying the hum, well practiced from years of knowing one another. “Do you have any ideas?”

Nanu rolled his neck back and forth. Tight as ever. 

“Kukui’s probably told everyone and his mother about Burris here,” Nanu grumbled. He could always see the gears turning behind that bright smile and wide gaze of Kukui’s. “ What a pain.” 

He flicked his cigarette up and down, chewing over the options. Calling Burris off or just surrounding him with World Police would draw unwieldy attention. Not exactly fair to the kid, either.

“Keep it on the downlow,” Nanu finally said. “Tell the other kahunas and Kukui what’s what, but no one else.”

“That should be wise,” Hala said.

“Don’t think there’s really a winning play here anyway,” Nanu grumbled. “Long as we avoid the timeline where his mom kills us we should be golden.”

“His mother?” Hala said. “She doesn’t seem the type.”

“His mom can peak into the minds of anyone within a few hundred yards and Arceus knows what else,” Nanu spat back. “Rather not find out what that’s like when she’s mad.”

“... Fair enough.” Hala remarked, then yawned. “Good night, Nanu.”

The cigarette addiction overrode Nanu’s compulsion to yawn. “Night.”

Nanu watched the rain come pouring down, harder than before. Once upon a time this time of year in Alola was the hot and dry season, or so the elders that had lived well past the century mark claimed.

“Climate change,” Nanu murmured. “Hell of a drug.” He flicked the butt end of the cigarette into a bush. 

He figured it’d be yet another call to Looker and Anabel back at the office in the morning. What a pain. Had to happen when he was stuck here in Alola for the Island Challenge, too.

“First the Aether kid and her space puffball, now the Juniper and his damn Rayquaza.” He shook his head, turning his back to the roaring rainstorm. “Kukui, I sure as hell hope you know what you’re doing.”


	3. Chapter 3

Burris rested easy that night on Kukui’s couch only in part from sheer exhaustion.

Lillie’s confession that she finally took Kukui up on his offer of a Popplio because she couldn’t leave Burris to carry both of their burdens helped too.

It didn’t make him any less grumpy when Kukui shouted out a “good morning!” at seven a.m., though.

“Really?” Burris grumbled, staring up at a wide-eyed Kukui that probably never actually went to sleep last night.

“C’mon, it’s a big brand new day! You and your human friends and pokemon partners, yeah!”

Burris heard Smudge meow at Kukui, one that sounded very grumpy and very tired.

The Litten went back to sleep.

“What Smudge said.”

Kukui smiled and shrugged, heading outside before Burris zonked out again.

Burris woke up hours later to Smudge screeching and hopping off his belly at an impossibly loud THUD that shook Kukui’s house.

“What in the actual,” Burris muttered, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes. The Litten paced around the circular living room rug, green with red patterning and torn in parts, growling loudly and hissing at the door.

Robby sat slouched over, eyes half open in Burris’ lap. The Oshawott perked up at the sound of Lillie climbing down from the loft, long blonde hair a frazzled mess. Her pink pajama pants, patterned with Clefairy, contrasted with her featureless plain white shirt.

“He’s training again,” Lillie explained. “Normally he does it in here, but I guess he tried to be considerate.”

“Tried,” Burris said, arms crossed over his bare chest and blanket covering his gym shorts. “That’s a funny word, considering he seems to be trying to take the house down.”

Lillie exhaled, an annoyed sigh through her nostrils.

“He… trains by seeing how well he can take pokemon attacks.”

“Seriously?” As Lillie gave him a look that said, yes, seriously, Burris figured this is how Hau must’ve felt last night. “... How isn’t he dead.”

Lillie shrugged. “Do you know why Rayquaza rescued you?”

“No.”

“Exactly.”

-  
The cliffs winding upwards from Kukui’s house towards Iki Town were soaked by sun and a gentle Alolan breeze that greeted Lillie and Burris in the middle of the day. The grass rustled with life and wild pokemon, the occasional Grubbin poking their head out curiously as Lillie and Burris walked about.

Burris wore his usual getup; tight red athletic shirt, black bike shorts, letting his curly mess of hair bounce around in the breeze. Lillie wore a white sweatshirt/skirt combination, and Burris could still sorta smell the sunscreen she practically dumped on.

“Bubbles, huh?” Burris asked. “He’s cute.”

“I think so too, I told Kukui I wanted one a while back so he saved it for me…” Lillie trailed off. Bubbles clapped in her arms,

“They’re a cute species; I know grandma Aile had a friend with a Primarina once who’d balance her Spheals on her nose.”

“Oh?” Lillie and Bubbles perked up in unison. “That sounds cute.”

“Yeah! Apparently socialization with other pokemon species is a big deal for pokemon that are given away like that,” Burris explained.

“I remember learning about it once,” Lillie said slowly, selecting her words carefully. “Species in the wild naturally interact with other species they’re friendly with, but that’s not always the case with people.”

“Yeah, when you put it like that,” Burris said, trailing off as he looked over the cliffs towards the sparkling Melemele ocean. “Did you parents breed Pokemon for starters, too?”

“O-oh!” Lillie stammered out. “No, just.” She looked away, eyes focused on a Yungoos looking angry as they always did at nothing in particular. “Conservation, is all.”

“Oh! That’s really cool.” Burris held his hands up behind his head. “Mom did some of that too; she helped reintroduce Petilil to the Hoenn region.”

Lillie nodded. “That’s good.”

Burris looked away; it didn’t take much to see the barrier being thrown up, the selectively filtered information. He knew the act all too well, considering, well-

The sound of a Litten pouncing into the bushes snapped him out of his thoughts with mild shock. “Smudge!” Burris shouted.

Smudge walked out of the grass with a muffled meow, a Grubbin in his mouth. The poor thing wriggled and its eyes watered.

The Litten set it down at Burris’ feet, the bug paralyzed with fear and unable to move.

“Litten do like to give their owners gifts,” Lillie pointed out. “I’m not so sure the Grubbin appreciates it, though…”

Smudge swished his tail and looked up at Burris expectantly. The boy bent down gently, putting his hand right in front of the petrified Grubbin.

“It’s okay,” Burris said softly. “Sorry about my dumbass cat.”

Smudge looked offended.

“Yeah, I’m talking about you.”

Burris felt a tingle, like static, sending his hair up on edge as the Grubbin crawled up his arm. Lillie scratched it with a single finger, causing the bug to wriggle.

Burris loved that little smile of Lillie’s.

“I… think she’s a girl,” Lillie explained, focused intently on the bug looking back at her. “Smaller mandibles.”

“Girl?” Burris hummed, drifting through a sea of memories of movies and shows with family. “... Hope sounds good, don’t you think?”

Hope wriggled appreciably, clacking her mandibles and letting herself vanish into a red and white capsule.

After another half an hour or so of walking, Hau waited for them at the entrance of Iki Town.

“Hey! You guys are late!” Hau said, grinning with his fists on his hips.

“For? We have all day to travel around here…” Lillie trailed off. “Not to mention an entire week before Hala sends us all off on the challenge.”

“Yeah, but there’s a really good pizza place that has killer malsadas at the edge of Hau'oli!” Hau said, grin widening.

“But we just ate-”

“That sounds pretty good,” Burris interjected to a confused Lillie. He shrugged. “It’ll take time to walk there anyway, right?”

“Yeah!” Hau said. “I’ve been there like, a million times. You two will love it, I promise!”

-

Nestled in between a school winding down the last days of the school year and a recently refurbished house was what Burris would call a hole in the wall.

Nothing more than a stand painted with old cracked white paint with picnic tables on the front slightly unkempt lawn, Burris knew these sorts of places fondly. Littleroot was infamous for having a couple of restaurants in the middle of nowhere that still won awards from even regional magazines.

The smell of fried dough wafted in the breeze; Burrs caught a hint of sugar as he sat down across from Lillie. Hope sat between Bubbles and Lillie’s Stufful- Patches- as the two greeted and chattered with them with a variety of squeaks and growls.

Hau’s Rowlet perched himself on the edge of the table, meeting Robby’s big Oshawott eyes staring at him from the ground. Smudge curled up beneath Burris’ seat, nestled in the perfect spot; a corner underneath the table where the sunlight hit just right.

“I’ll go order the food, alright?” Hau said, smiling. It dampened slightly as he saw the line. “Thought we dodged the lunch rush…”

Hau walked off, leaving Burris and Lillie to their own devices across from one another.

Lillie scratched her arm and sighed as some skin peeled off.

“You have really sensitive skin, don’t you?”

Lillie nodded and sighed. “We have… a lot of sunscreen at Kukui’s.” She shook her head. “I… didn’t play much outside as a kid.”

Burris caught her contemplative frown.

“The outdoors isn’t really for everyone,” he said, digging for a distraction. “We played our share of video games and watched our TV, too.”

“Mmmm,” Lillie said, kicking her legs back and forth beneath the table.

“What did you watch, as a kid?” Burris asked, fishing for a happy memory like an Old Rod hoping it wouldn’t catch a Magikarp.

Lillie smiled. “We got to watch old pokemon battles,” she said. A Goldeen, a miracle. “Diantha was always so graceful…”

“That’s really cool,” Burris said with a nod, hiding the fact most of what he watched were dumb cartoons, ranging from transforming robots to magical girls and occasionally they crossed over, too.

Lillie drifted off towards open happiness. “Iris was so strong too, though Liliana…” Lillie looked off into the distance with a dreamy look and sighed, missing Burris’ interested smile.

“I…” She started, paused, and then chuckled with a slight blush as her voice grew quieter. “I always sort of wish she could’ve carried me away from… that. Just a princess being carried away from her castle, silly things like…”

Burris had frozen on the spot, forehead in his palm.

“... that.”

“Lil.”

She gave a confused look.

“Did I say something? I-I know it was-”

“Lillie.”

Lillie blinked. “What?”

Burris shook his head in his palm, glanced around at the other tables wondering why Rayquaza only rescued him from the bridge and not this, and sighed before leaning in.

“Liliana’s my mom.”

The blush and color drained from Lillie’s face, embarrassment pinning her to the spot. Even the breeze didn’t toy with her hair, seemingly moving around her loudly with comedic effect.

Burris buried his hands in both palms, running them down his face. He looked away from Lillie and down at Smudge.

The Litten seemed amused.

The smell of food fast approached, Hau carrying a pizza box- some white thing with light blue ocean waves colored on top- and a smaller box with a similar pattern, smelling divinely sweet.

“Food’s here!” Hau said, plopping down with both boxes. Silence greeted him from the two humans, leaving Hau with an eyebrow raised and slight worry.

Robby hopped up on the table, his flat tail bouncing up and down off the wood.

“You want some, Robby?” The Oshawott barked, nudging the rectangular box of Malsadas. “Sure thing, buddy!”

“Just give him one,” Burris said, snapped out of his shock. “Robby’s not supposed to have too much sugar.”

“I dunno about that,” Hau said, faking a protest. “If you and Lillie keep acting like that we’ll have to split the-”

“Lillie’s into my mom,” Burris explained, causing Lillie to raise her sweatshirt over her face.

“Like… into into?”

Burris nodded.

Hau blinked, turning towards Lillie.

“I didn’t know she was his mom,” Lillie protested, muffled through the fabric

“Hah!” Hau laughed, to furrowed eyebrows and green eyes peaking out over sweatshirt.

“That’s not funny,” Burris protested.

“I dunno,” Hau said, grinning. “It kind of is.”

Burris planted his hands on his hips, while Robby looked on from a nibbled-on malsada.

“Do you want me talking about Hala like that?” Burris snapped.

Hau scrunched his face in annoyance for a rare few seconds, before flipping back to his wide grin and closed eyes.

“Face enough! Long as we’re all good to dig in!”

Eventually the group was surrounded by messy paper plates, though Lillie’s was filled with paper towels that absorbed some pizza grease.

“So!” Hau said, putting his phone in the middle of the group. Lillie and Burris both peered over it as Hau brought up a small map of Alola, a chart with images to the side.of specific people. “Tutu said we’ve got a week to prep for the Island Challenge.”

“A week?” Burris asked. “My sister texted me about her first badge already…”

“Didn’t you say she's a queen tryhard?” Lillie said.

“Well, yeah, but-”

“We take things at our own speed in Alola,” Hau said. “‘Sides, we’re still kinda on the kids’ schedule for this.”

“Didn’t think I’d ever hear those words,” Burris said.

“It is more like summer camp, according to Kukui,” Lillie pointed out. “It’s… partly why he called you here, actually.”

Burris tilted his head.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Hau spoke up. “Last name and all.”

“Mmmm,” Burris hummed. “Right.” He focused down on the map on Hau’s phone. “Which island has Malie on it?”

Lillie perked up as Hau poked the largest island, the furthest east on the island chain.

“There! It’s the biggest city on Ula’Ula, I think,” Hau said. “That’s the third island we’ll visit.”

“Right,” Burris said. “I guess we can’t do this in any order we want?”

Hau gave him a blank look, then shrugged. “I wouldn’t think so?”

“It’s a thing in Hoenn,” Burris pointed out, his posture slouched a bit. He supposed without proper League infrastructure in place, it made sense…

“So we go from here to Akala to Ula’Ula to Poni?” Lillie said, green eyes scanning the screen intently. She expanded the list of challenges; a mix of the usual trials, with the island’s respective kahuna at the end of each island. “Normal, fighting for the grand trial, then grass, water, fire in whatever order we want…”

“They’re all really close too, I think!” Hau said. “We can probably take them all on in the span of two or three days if we really work at it!”

“Three in two days?” Burris gave a questioning look. “That… sounds exhausting.”

“It’s an extra day to rest after!” Hau said, brimming with energy.

Lillie and Burris exchanged skeptical glances.

“Anyway, then we have rock for that island’s finale, then… electric, ghost, dark, dragon, and fairy…” Lillie folded her hands in her lap, chewing over the information.

“We have a week around here anyway before…” Burris looked over and squinted at the screen. “Illima? His normal type trial,” he continued.

“Kukui has a book on where you can find Melemele’s species,” Lillie suggested.

“He doesn’t spend his entire free time trying to get himself killed?” Burris asked, visibly amused with his arms crossed.

“Surprisingly enough, no.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Burris and Lillie pouring over a well-loved travel guide to Melemele’s species. Hau already had his mind made up and headed home; he just wanted a Crabrawler for the first trial, like Tutu’s. A glorified notebook that had lost the typical blue cover ages ago, some of the pages had stains and tears.

And all of it had Kukui’s atrocious handwriting.

“My wife’s is worse!” Kukui yelled from the basement as Burris commented on it.

“At least I have the excuse we weren’t taught cursive,” Burris shot back.

“... You weren’t taught cursive?” Lillie questioned.

Burris gave Lillie a blank look.

“What? No.”

“... I was told it was still very important.”

Burris blinked, shook his head, and decided it was wiser to drop the topic. Arceus knows she’d bring up she learned it because Mom said it was important on a commercial or some shit.

He flipped through a couple of more pages before landing on a page with Kukui’s interpretation of a Hawlucha. The other pokemon had been very bare bones, mostly focused on their general shape and some features.

Burris did get a decent laugh out of the >:3 face the Litten had, though.

This one, though could’ve been taken straight out of a sketched comic; Some exaggerated features, sure, but with action lines all around it as it tried to body slam an unseen target.

“Kukui can draw?” Burris asked.

Lillie scooted over a bit on the couch, peering closer over Burris’ shoulder.

“This is news to me.”

The sound of Kukui’s footsteps up the stairs interrupted the conversation.

“Woo! Yeah, Hawlucha are the real deal!” Kukui said. “Not many mons have that style those do with a Flying Flip, yeah!”

Burris and Lillie looked up in unison at the sound of something wriggling, only to see Kukui with an Inkay, upside down with tentacles attached to his head.

Both seemed happy with the arrangement, at the least.

“You know, letting yourself be wrapped like that is probably not the worst thing you’ve let happen,” Burris commented.

The Inkay chirped, detached herself and floating up to Burris curiously. Robby brought a hand down to the shell on his belly, hidden helpfully beneath his neon green neckerchief.

Still, she stared, before looking back to Kukui.

“Woo! Looks like this Inkay I found taken a liking to you!” Kukui said.

“Inkay are kind of cool…” Burris hummed.

“They’ll Topsy Turvy your entire world if you give em a crack at one of the Totems!”

Burris pointedly ignored the pun as he rummaged through he well-loved blue hiking backpack for a Poke Ball.

The Inkay chirped, pecked the button on the device, and vanished into red light.

-

The only things that followed Burris around in the still Hau'oli night were the sound of waves off in the distance and the swaying of palm trees from the cool crisp wind. A couple of Murkrow perched on the fences here and there, too.

Kukui had recommended the nearby school for Burris’ little night stroll. Just him and his pokemon, for the first time since Robby and him boarded the cruise ship. Not that he minded the company; sometimes he just needed to recharge his batteries.

It had been a bit since insomnia got its grips into him, though Burris chalked it up to needing time to think.

He plopped down on a bench, a worn wooden thing at the edge of the tennis courts, and leaned back to look up at the full moon. Stars twinkled in the night sky, a proverbial sea of small white lights.

A star streaked across the sky, and Burris flashed back to home. Sienna always loved shooting stars and meteor showers, and the four of them would spend nights on a balcony Dad built outside of Burris’ bedroom window.

Built after him and Mom figured out Burris and Sienna would occasionally use it to sneak out onto the rooftop, of course. They’d spend entire evenings with nothing but finger food cooked by Mom, blankets, and the show the stars put on.

Burris sighed and brought out his phone, skimming through all of the texts he had replied to, and sighed again. Sienna had just hit Rustboro and aimed to go for her first badge tomorrow, Mom still excited about the kids coming to get their Petilil starters, Dad training some college graduates at the gym…

Burris seemed to be the only one standing still; even this day had felt like a week. Kukui would just claim that’s Alolan time.

“He’s probably right,” Burris said to no one in particular. A stray gust of wind blew a bang over his left eye.

Burris almost missed the sound of casual approaching footsteps as he swiped the bang back, but a flash of white light startling him.

“Robby?” The Oshawott barked at the figure, pointing his razor shell at the stranger. He stopped at the edge of the court. Blonde with fierce green eyes, he wore torn black jeans that matched his worn black and red hoodie.

He held a dramatic pose for a second, his hand over his forehead, but dropped it as if he forgot what he wanted to do or say and sort of just stared for a second.

Burris raised an eyebrow, unaware of the bright full moon highlighting his frame.

“Can I help you?” he asked, hands behind his head.

The boy snapped out of his trance, haphazardly returning to his dramatic pose. Another flash of light, and… some sort of chimera-esque pokemon with an unnatural heavy brown mask appeared by his side. Roughly the size of a big dog; certainly bigger than a Poochyena, not quite the size of a full-grown Mightyena though.

Blue eyes locked onto Robby from the darkness beneath the mask.

Robby shot a smug look back.

“Fight me.”

“What?” Burris asked, gaze drifting towards the chimera.

Robby squared up.

“You know what I said.”

Burris narrowed his eyes, otherwise unmoving.

“No.”

The boy’s green eyes widened, startled out of focus.

“W-what?” he said. The chimera seemed caught off guard, loosening its stance and grumbling as the mask shifted every so slightly, but so obviously uncomfortably. “You can’t just say no!”

“Seriously?” Burris replied. Robby crossed his arms and chirped out something resembling a laugh. “I don’t even know your name.”

“What does-”

“Does “Fight me” work?” Burris replied.

The boy gritted his teeth, looking away from Burris entirely and muttering. “Gladion.”

“Cool, name’s Burris, nice to meet you.” Burris stubbornly refused to move from the seat, not that mister edgy would accept a handshake or agree to anything resembling a polite human greeting anyway.

“Great, can we fight now…” Gladion trailed off, his eyes focused on Burris’ bangs drifting around in the wind. “Burris?”

Burris pretended to chew over the question, his own eyes focused on the chimera again.

Finally, he got up, hands in his pockets as he approached the blonde… and walked right past.

“No,” Burris said. The chimera growled low, taking a few steps back. “But I do have questions about your friend here…”

“Null doesn’t like other people,” Gladion warned, annoyed.

“I wouldn’t either.” Burris dug into his pocket, revealing a slightly crumpled breakfast bar. “Especially not when someone put that mask on him.”

‘Excuse me?” Gladion broke his posing for a moment, green eyes widened.

Burris squatted down to Null’s level, tearing the light blue wrapper slowly.

“I’m not stupid, that mask is extremely uncomfortable on Null.”

Gladion’s gaze lingered on Burris for a few seconds longer than it should, before he turned away and crossed his arms. Robby focused intently on Gladion, shell back on his belly, and tilted his head at the sign of a slight blush.

“I know,” Gladion muttered. He kept one eye on Null, nose twitching beneath the heavy brown mask as he smelled the bar.

“Do you want that?” Burris asked in an almost babying tone. Null took a gentle step forward or two with his clawed front feet, attempting to hide his wagging fish-like tail best the chimera could. “I’m sure it smells good…”

Null hesitated, long enough for Burris to notice the glowing green markings on the side of the helmet.

“If you know, then why is Null still wearing it?” Burris said, glaring up at Gladion.

“I.” Gladion looked away, gritting his teeth.

Robby looked between his trainer and Burris, and spared a glance at Null approaching the half of an Oran Berry breakfast bar in his hand.

“I don’t know how to take it off, okay?” Gladion snapped back to Burris.

“And yet you’re still battling with Null here?” Burris said. He felt the approach of Null, but kept his focus entirely on Gladion. He had seen baby Petilil react similarly to food Mom tried to give them.

“That’s none of your business,” Gladion said.

“Your opinion on that doesn’t matter,” Burris said. His fierce gaze broke a bit as he felt Null snatch the bar from his hand. He spared a glance at Null as he chewed, and ran his fingers through the scruff of his neck.

“I wouldn’t-”

Null complied as he ate, taking all but a split second to jump back to a safe distance from Burris after swallowing.

“Wouldn’t what?”

Gladion stared wide-eyed, mouth ajar.

“Nothing,” Gladion said. He hmphed and returned to his usual position, hand over his forehead. “But…”

Gladion looked to Burris, satisfied with himself, to Null, wary more so than aggressive, and to Robby, big black eyes clearly seeing more than either boy.

Gladion flashed back to the initial moments with Null, and looked down at the tears in his sweatshirt and jeans, and all of those battles with no solution in sight…

“But?”

“... I’ve been trying to figure out the helmet… situation,” Gladion said. “Null. seems to tolerate you.”

“Food’s a good motivator, even for aggressive unsocialized Pokemon,” Burris said.

Gladion exhaled, looking up to the full moon behind the two in thought, and looked back to Burris.

“Could you-”

The two froze at the sound of Lillie calling for Burris off in the distance.

“I guess I should’ve told Lillie I wanted some air…”

“Shit” was all Burris heard Gladion say, and he whirled around to see Gladion had seemingly vanished without a trace.

He didn’t miss Null running for the bushes, alongside a Mime Jr. with a Zorua’s tail conspicuously sticking out from behind, though.

Burris and Robby stared as Lillie entered the school grounds, wearing a baby blue sweatshirt hastily thrown over her pajamas..

“You should’ve told someone you were heading out…” Lillie said. Burris caught a worried look in her eyes.

“Sorry,”, he muttered. “Thought you and Kukui were asleep.”

Lillie shook her head. “It’s fine, Kukui has snuck out for more… concerning things, before.”

Burris raised an eyebrow. “Fair enough.”

“... Was there someone else here? I thought I heard you talking with someone.”

“Oh,” Burris shrugged. “Yeah, wasn’t a big deal.” He dismissed it with a wave, then stretched and yawned.

“I agree,” Lillie said, rubbing her eyes. “Hala wants to meet with us tomorrow morning, so…”

Meanwhile, the underbrush rustled on the opposite side of the treeline, away from the Trainer’s School.

“That’s enough, Squeaks,” Gladion said. He stood on the edge of the Hau’li Cemetary, somewhere in the city outskirts.

With an affirmative cry, the illusion fell, revealing Gladion and his Zorua to a surprised Gastly, who floated away without a trace.

Null began to pace back and forth in front of Gladion, blue eyes meeting Gladion’s green.

“What’s gotten into you?”

Null sat down, wagging his fish tail with a whine.

“Hmph,” Gladion said. Null only acted up like this around Gladion and the other members of the squad when bored, usually. Tonight, though... “Him, really?”

Null barked.

Gladion shoved his hands in his pockets and looked back at the trees, near the Trainer’s School and the close call with Lillie. Best she didn’t see him, anyway; he doubted she’d be happy.

Still, Burris…

“... I think we’ll see him again, Null.”

The full moon set, the sun rose, Gladion returned to his hotel room, and Burris woke up on Kukui’s couch to his phone alarm.

He rubbed an eye, vision still slightly blurry.

Robby sat on his lower left leg, holding Gladion’s pose with a paw over his left eye and his other paw on his tummy shell.

“Really, him?”

Burris gave Robby a flat, annoyed stare

“You’re doing that.”

Robby chuckled.

Burris kicked his leg up with some force. Robby flung into the air eyes wide, attempting to catch his shell before crashing to the ground.

“Get off my couch.”


End file.
